Mary Seacole [ Victorian Web Home —> Victorian Political History —> Victorian Social History —> Crimean War ] ary Seacole and Florence Nightingale were contemporaries noted for their nursing care of soldiers during the Crimean War. Nightingale is still a well-known historical figure, but Seacole was soon forgotten. One author asked, 'Why is it then that the sands of history seem to have buried Mary Seacole in favour of Miss Nightingale and others when her deeds were in many ways equally noble?' Mrs. Seacole was a Jamaican healer or 'doctress' with expertise in tending victims of cholera and yellow fever epidemics. When the Crimean War began, Mrs. Seacole went to London and volunteered her services as a nurse to the War Office, other military agencies, and Florence Nightingale's nursing group. She was told by all that her services were not needed. She went to the Crimea at her own expense and worked steadfastly to care for the sick and wounded, often going onto the battlefield to aid the fallen. She became quite well known in the Crimea and back in England. Her autobiography, The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs.

Seacole in Many Lands, was published in 1857 and was very popular for a while. Then Mrs. Seacole faded from public attention for almost 100 years. In the 1970's Mrs. Seacole was rediscovered and has become a symbol for Black nurses, civil rights groups, and the women's liberation movement. Almost every article available compares her with Florence Nightingale and suggests that Mrs. Seacole was pushed aside and soon forgotten because she was Black. In this paper I will discuss Mary Seacole's life and works in light of the time period in which she lived, the comparisons made between Seacole and Nightingale, and the body of literature that has been written about her. Mary Jane Seacole (nï¿½e Grant), by Albert Charles Challen, oil on panel, 1869, NPG 6856; with thanks to the NPG. ©National Portrait Gallery, London. Twenty-five years ago, it would have been difficult to find many people who recognized the name of Mary Seacole except for a few nurses in her home country of Kingston, Jamaica.

However, there was a time when she was quite famous in England as well as in the Caribbean. Mary Seacole is rather an elusive figure because she never held any 'official' appointments nor did she leave behind a large body of written works. Mary published her very popular autobiography in 1857. In addition, there were a few articles about her actions in the Crimean War published in the London Times, Punch, and the Illustrated London News. On her death in 1881, the Times and the Manchester Guardian paid tribute to a woman whose personal courage and contribution to the Crimean campaign had won her wide admiration (Alexander, 1981). In time, the people who knew of her work died and the fame she earned for her work with the sick and wounded in the Crimea as well as all she did in the Caribbean to help with victims of yellow fever, cholera, dysentery, and other tropical diseases, faded from memory. There were, of course, a few people in Jamaica who remembered because Mary Seacole was one of their most famous citizens.

I did an extensive literature search to find out more about the woman who is now being called another Florence Nightingale, the Black Florence Nightingale, and the first nurse practitioner. I will start with some illustrations from Mary Seacole's autobiography as background material and then discuss some of the articles that have been written about her since she was 'rediscovered.' All references to Mrs. Seacole's autobiography will refer to the Alexander & Dewjee reprint edition. Almost everything known about Mary Seacole is to be found in her autobiography entitled Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands which was originally published in London in 1857 and reprinted in 1984. She reveals very little personal information about herself. Her childhood and family life is summarized in six pages. She was born Mary Ann Grant in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805. Her mother was a free Black woman and her father was a Scottish soldier stationed in Kingston. Slaves were not freed in the British West Indies until 1834 so Mary occupied a middle ground; not a slave but still subject to the prejudices against Blacks. Mary was a mulatto or Creole.

On the first page of her book, she described herself: 'I am a Creole, and have good Scotch blood coursing in my veins' (Alexander, 1984). Mary's mother was a well-known herbalist or 'doctress' in Kingston. She ran a boarding house for invalid British soldiers and their families. Mary seems to have had frequent contact with military doctors and keenly observed what they did to treat their patients. By the time she was twelve, she was helping her mother take care of patients. She claimed she inherited her energy and ambition from her Scottish father and her medical skills from her mother. She married a Mr. Seacole in 1836 but he was a sickly man and soon died. In her book, Seacole only refers to him as Mr. Seacole but various sources give his name as Edwin Horatio Seacole. Two main points are emphasized throughout her book — she loved to travel and she had a strong interest in medicine and serving the sick. While she was still young, she made two trips to England and lived there for a total of three years. After she became a widow, Mary established her own boarding house and began to care for her own patients.

She gained a reputation as a skilled nurse and doctress. In 1850 cholera swept the island of Jamaica and more than 31,000 people died. Mary worked with doctors as a fledgling nurse, gaining first hand knowledge of the disease and developed a medicine that produced remarkable results (King, 1974). Since there were no formal nursing education programs yet, she was as well qualified as anyone to call herself a nurse. She observed the illness and studied what worked and what didn't. Ever restless, Mary traveled to Panama to visit her brother and opened a boarding house in Cruces. Panama was in a state of upheaval at the time and sanitary conditions were extremely bad. That, combined with the hot, humid weather, made Panama a breeding ground for all types of tropical diseases. Soon after Seacole's arrival, cholera broke out in Cruces. There was no doctor but the residents were reluctant to accept her help at first because she was black and she was a woman. However, they were soon forced to seek her aid. She worked night and day until the crisis was over and was credited with saving many lives.

She said the disease was contagious but that wasn't the usual belief for quite awhile. She also felt that cleanliness, fresh air, and good food were important even though those ideas weren't commonly accepted. She was very observant and wanted to know the mechanisms involved in cholera. Finally, she did her one and only autopsy on a child who had died of cholera because she wanted to see what was going on inside the body of victims. She received much acclaim and praise for her work in Cruces. Americans living in Panama called her an angel of mercy, but some of the Americans provoked her to wrath because of their racist remarks and bad attitudes about Blacks. While in Cruces, she made a statement that illustrates the driving force in her life: 'And wherever the need arises — on whatever distant shore — - I ask no higher or greater privilege than to minister to it' (Alexander, 1984, p. 78). She moved on to Cuba and was so effective in caring for their cholera victims that she became known as 'the yellow woman from Jamaica with the cholera medicine.' Mrs. Seacole moved back to Kingston and was there in 1853 when a severe yellow fever epidemic struck Jamaica.

Once again she worked tirelessly in treating the sick. Mrs Seacole's Hotel in the Crimea. Source: Fronispiece, Seacole. When war broke out in the Crimea, some of the units from Jamaica were sent there to fight. Reporters such as Times correspondent, William H. Russell, sent back regular reports on the horrible conditions for the sick and wounded. Of the 20,000 British soldiers who lost their lives in the war, 3000 died in battle and the remaining 17,000 from diseases. Florence Nightingale was recruited to organize and train nurses to work in the military hospitals of the Crimea. When news of the situation in the Crimea reached Mary Seacole, she was convinced that her experience with tropical diseases was vital to Britain's war efforts (Alexander, 1981). Mary was very attached to her 'boys' from Jamaica and wanted to join the regiments she knew from Kingston in Sebastopol. Armed with glowing letters of recommendation from military doctors in Jamaica, Seacole arrived in London in the autumn of 1854.

First, she applied to the War Office for the post of hospital nurse because in her own words she said, 'knowing that I was well fitted for the work, and would be the right woman in the right place' (Alexander, 1984, p. 123). The War Office ignored her offer. Then she applied at various military offices and with Florence Nightingale's organization. In spite of a great shortage of suitable women to go to the Crimea as nurses, she was turned down by all. Finally, bitterly disappointed that no one seemed to want the help she was freely offering, Mary wrote in her autobiography: Doubts and suspicion rose in my heart for the first and last time, thank Heaven. Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here? Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat duskier skin than theirs (Alexander, 1984, p. 126)? Mary shed a few tears of grief that all the officials doubted her ability, but then her determination came to the fore and she decided she would go to the Crimea at her own expense.

She said, 'if the authorities had allowed me, I would willingly have given them my services as a nurse; but as they declined them, should I not open an hotel for invalids in the Crimea in my own way?' (Alexander, 1984, p. 126). One of her guiding principles was that bureaucracy should not deter the cause of service (Marshall-Burnett, 1981). In partnership with Thomas Day, a distant connection of her late husband, she acquired a stock of food and medicine and left for Turkey as a sutler. She set up a store and boarding house about two miles from Balaclava which she called The British Hotel. Her purpose was to establish an eating establishment and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers. The lower floor was a restaurant and bar and the upper floor was similar to a hospital. Throughout her career, Mrs. Seacole was an astute businesswoman. Her boarding houses provided for her personal expenses and financed her medical work. She was very generous in serving others, but she also expected to be paid for her services. She worked in her boarding house by day and then volunteered with Florence Nightingale in the evening.

She began a medical practice working with the 'ranks' or enlisted men who did not want to go to the hospitals for any reason. She soon held the position in camp as doctress, nurse, and 'mother.' In her book she uses many letters she received in appreciation for her care. Her fame increased even more when she was seen tending the wounded on the battlefields even as the battle was still taking place. She became a familiar sight in her colorful garb such as her 'yellow dress and blue bonnet with red ribbons and her famous medical bag' (Alexander, 1981, p. 45). She regularly loaded her bags of provisions on one mule and her black bag of 'medical equipment', lint, bandages, needle and thread on a second mule, and made her way to the scene of battle. When Sebastopol fell on September 8, 1855, Mrs. Seacole got a pass that allowed her to be the first woman to enter Sebastopol so she could pass out refreshments and tend to the injured.

The soldiers began to call her the 'black Nightingale.' Even though she was praised highly by the soldiers, she was never given any official recognition or reward by the military. When the war ended abruptly in 1856, Mrs. Seacole was left with a lot of expensive supplies that she could not sell at a fair price so she suffered a great financial loss. After she returned to England she had to declare bankruptcy. High-ranking officers and others who knew of her work in the Crimea started a fund for her and staged a four-day benefit to help her financially. Despite very large crowds at the benefit, Seacole received very little money. Due to poor planning and the financial problems of the Royal Surrey Gardens, the profit was about £233 after expenses were paid. Though her heroism in the Crimea went unheralded by the government, Mary Seacole had won the admiration, respect, and love of many of the English people. The British weekly, Punch, wrote a glowing tribute to her in a poem entitled 'A Stir for Seacole' which was published December 6, 1856 and Times correspondent, William H.

Russell mentioned her in some of his news reports and later wrote the introductory preface to her autobiography. Among other flattering comments, he said: I have witnessed her devotion and her courage; I have already borne testimony to her services to all who needed them. She is the first who has redeemed the name of 'sutler' from the suspicion of worthlessness, mercenary baseness, and plunder; and I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead (Alexander, 1857/1984, Preface). Mary's book was very well received and profitable. In 1867 another fund was established which had the backing of Queen Victoria . The goal of her supporters was 'to place her beyond the reach of want' (Alexander, 1984, p. 34). Long after the war ended, the government awarded her the Crimea Medal for services rendered the sick and injured (Carnegie, 1984). The Times reported that she received four medals but didn't specify what they were.

An obituary article in the Daily Gleaner of Jamaica dated June 9, 1881, stated that Mrs. Seacole received 'English, French, Russian and Turkish decorations.' The latter years of Mrs. Seacole's life were divided between Jamaica and England. Mary died in Paddington, London on May 14, 1881. Her estate was valued at something over £2600. The Times and Manchester Guardian published obituaries in recognition of her services even though she had been out of the public eye for 25 years. After that, Mary Seacole faded from memory. During my literature review on Mary Seacole, I found a few references about her in Jamaica in 1905, 1911, 1932 and 1934. In a 1951 radio broadcast, Adolphe Roberts said, 'posterity will remember a Jamaican, who although she may not be counted among the world's 'greats', certainly had one of the kindest hearts that ever beat in a human breast' (Roberts, 1951).

The first serious attempt to restore her place in history was in 1954, the centenary of the Crimean War. In that year, the Jamaican General Trained Nurses' Association (now the Jamaican Nurses' Association) decided to name their Kingston headquarters the Mary Seacole House when it was built. Later a residence hall at the University of the West Indies was named for her, and then a ward in the Kingston Public Hospital. No recognition of any significance occurred in Britain until 1973. On November 20, 1973 there was a special ceremony of reconsecration at Mary Seacole's grave. Miss Elsie Gordon, former editor of the Nursing Mirror found a slip of paper in an old copy of Mrs. Seacole's autobiography that she had purchased in a London book shop. This piece of paper helped Gordon locate Mary Seacole's grave in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Kensal Green. Prior to this, no one knew where she was buried (Gordon, 1975).

The ceremony was due to the combined efforts of the British Commonwealth Nurses' War Memorial Fund and the Lignum Vitae Club, a Jamaican women's group based in London, and the support of the Jamaican Nurses' Association (U.K.). Mrs. Seacole's crumbling headstone was restored. This ceremony received coverage in newspapers and several nursing journals. In 1980, a touring exhibition called 'Roots in Britain' occasioned many requests for further information on Mary Seacole. Due to this revived interest, a memorial service was held on May 14, 1981 to mark the centenary of her death. This commemorative service has now become an annual event. The response was so strong that a decision was made to reprint Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands in 1984. The editors of the reprint, Ziggi Alexander and Audrey Dewjee added several pages of research to their introduction which greatly expanded the information available on Mrs. Seacole and her autobiography.

In a review of the book, Clive Davis remarked that 'A cottage industry is beginning to develop around the exploits of 'Mother Seacole', a Jamaican Creole who became a Victorian celebrity for her work as a nurse in the Crimean War and then sank into obscurity for the next hundred years or so' (Davis, 1984). As her story became better known, Mrs. Seacole was turned into a symbol or rallying point for minority nurses, feminists, and nurses who felt the current system of nursing was too restrictive. Black nurses began to complain of the racism in the National Health Service and used Mary Seacole's words to express their feelings of anger and rejection: 'Did they shrink from accepting my aid because it flowed from a somewhat duskier skin than theirs' (Alibhai, 1988). The question of why Florence Nightingale became so famous that she is still remembered today while Mrs. Seacole received little recognition began to appear with more regularity.

One asked, 'Why is it then that the sands of history seem to have buried Mary Seacole in favour of Miss Nightingale and others when her deeds were in many ways equally noble' (Bassett, 1992). Nurses who were interested in what is now called advanced practice nursing pointed out that Seacole's practice and conduct was of great significance to the genesis and history of nursing. It is true that Mary Seacole did nurse but her practice was far broader — diagnosis, prescription, preparation of herbals and pharmaceutical medicine, a little minor surgery, and doing a postmortem on a cholera victim to learn more about the effects of cholera. Hopefully she will eventually have her own place in history instead of being 'a black Nightingale' (Pollitt, 1992). Seacole has also been called a nurse practitioner, independent practitioner, or advanced practice nurse because she performed a number of nursing and medical activities without direct supervision from a doctor. In fact, many doctors felt threatened by her ideas on cleanliness, good ventilation, nourishing food, and the separation of patients with contagious diseases.

Furthermore, she financed her own practice due to her shrewd business skills in owning and managing her boarding houses and in being a sutler during the Crimean War. A recurring theme in almost every article about Mary Seacole is the comparison of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. Florence Nightingale still has great name recognition all over the world while Mary Seacole was known for perhaps 30 years and then forgotten. They both served in the Crimean War and both did everything within their power to relieve the suffering of the sick and wounded soldiers. Florence Nightingale was white and had the backing and support of the British government. Mary Seacole was a middle aged Creole from Jamaica — a British colony. She volunteered her services as a nurse and had the credentials to show that she was very experienced in working with diseases such as cholera, yellow fever and dysentery. She was told by all that her services weren't needed even though that was blatantly untrue. Therefore, she went at her own expense. As many of the articles about her claim, racism in the Victorian society of her day was undoubtedly the major reason for her rejection.

However, some of the articles seem to infer that, somehow, it was all Florence Nightingale's fault. One article stated, 'she had to compete with Florence Nightingale whose work was well established. Florence Nightingale was in a position to achieve what she wanted, how she wanted, and she was also a woman who wished to do it alone Florence Nightingale saw Mary as an independent, strong willed rival' (Iveson-Iveson, 1983, p. 45). One wonders why there was a need for competition since there was enough work to keep any number of nurses busy. One of Florence Nightingale's major goals was to make nursing a respectable profession. Nurses often had a very bad reputation for being sloppy, drunken women who weren't much better than prostitutes. Image was just as important then as it is now. Along came Mrs. Seacole, a colonial from Jamaica. By her own admission, Mary was rather flamboyant — a very colorful and picturesque character who liked to dress in conspicuous colors like red and yellow, and wear hats or bonnets decorated with a lot of red ribbons. She obviously didn't fit the image. Mrs.

Seacole was ahead of her time in more ways than one! Another dubious charge is that, 'In many ways she stands head and shoulders above Florence Nightingale, for whereas Florence performed only an administrative role away from the front line, Mrs. Seacole was in the thick of things and did not hesitate to go to the battlefield itself in her desire to alleviate suffering and to comfort the dying' (Iveson-Iveson, 1984, p. 36). The manner of their service was drastically different. Even before she went to the Crimea, Nightingale knew that surmounting the bureaucratic problems of the army's medical services and establishing a female nursing group which authorities and medical men alike could respect was going to be more important than any individual patient care she might do. Nightingale gained her reputation by the organization of nursing services during the Crimean War. After the war she worked tirelessly to improve public health and raise the status of nursing. The result of the introduction of women nurses into the British Army was no small matter in the history of nursing and was a testimony to her tremendous public support in forcing the antagonistic military hierarchy to accept a female with authority into their ranks.

She also experienced prejudice and resentment from doctors and the military establishment. Nightingale is being criticized for not doing more, for not being more progressive, etc. but she took on the establishment years before women could even vote. Mrs. Seacole's strength seemed to be more in hands-on activities such as direct patient care. She was an entrepreneur who was able to use her skills as a merchant to finance her medical and nursing practice. It is probably true that Mrs. Seacole had more practical experience, especially with tropical diseases. However, both administrative and hands-on care are necessary for the effective delivery of health care. Both women made a great contribution to the history of nursing in their own way and, hopefully, there is room for both of them. Mrs. Seacole's autobiography has generated several articles which analyze it as a travel book. It was unique for women to travel freely and alone in Victorian times. Some have even questioned that she really wrote the book herself. The assumption seems to be that a Black woman from the colonies wouldn't have been able to write such a book. However, many of the freeborn Blacks seem to have been quite well off and educated.

Seacole's book is written in a lively, racy manner that is easy to read. Her caustic wit and optimistic attitude are very engaging. It is ironic that most of the articles about Mrs. Seacole claim she was overlooked because she was a victim of Victorian racism, but in her book, she frequently makes derogatory remarks about Blacks, Creoles, Catholics, and the Irish. Inevitably, she points out that thankfully, she doesn't have whatever bad habits these other people have. She was also a name dropper but reviewers seem to feel she did that mostly to promote her book by giving her story validity. She didn't say much about slavery in her own country or Britain's role in it, but she did sharply criticize Americans and their treatment of Blacks. She stressed her Scottish heritage and referred to herself as a yellow woman or a person with yellow skin rather than being black. In her book she presents herself as a rational observer of people and events happening around her. She was obviously writing for a white, British audience since they would be the ones to buy her book, the purpose of which was to rescue her from her financial problems. Mrs.

Seacole's autobiography may seem like an interesting travel adventure on the first read but when one remembers the slavery issue and her rather ambiguous role as a free Black woman in Victorian society, it is obvious that she was walking a rather fine line in writing the book at all. In answer to the question of why Florence Nightingale was revered in her time and still remembered today while Mary Seacole was soon forgotten, racism and Victorian prejudices were probably the primary cause. One could also ask, what is the nature of greatness? To be recorded by official institutions, an individual or event must at some stage be deemed to be of particular value to society. The notion of 'greatness' is a highly subjective one, governed by considerations of race, class and gender, and by a person's or event's place within our affections (Okokon, 1998). History is written by those in power at the time. Once Mrs. Seacole's supporters and admirers died, there was no one to keep her name alive.

On the other hand, Florence Nightingale had a school named after her and left behind a large body of literature including her Notes on Nursing which was almost a bible for nursing well into the 1900s. These things helped to perpetuate her memory. It was a strange coincidence that these two women who were motivated by the same need to serve were contemporaries. Unfortunately for Mary Seacole, Florence Nightingale fitted the Victorian idea of a heroine better than she did. One could ask whether it is more important to be a doer or a thinker, or in this case, an administrator or a bedside nurse. Mary Grant Seacole rose about the barriers of racial prejudice and demonstrated determinism, compassion, and caring and is a fitting role model for both blacks and non-blacks. There is much to admire in both of these women who had different roles in nursing but the same goal. Although forgotten for many years, Mrs. Seacole has been rediscovered. References Alexander, Z. & Dewjee, A. (Eds.). Wonderful adventures of Mrs. Seacole in many lands. Bristol, England: Falling Wall Press, 1984. Alibhai, Y. 'Black Nightingales'.

New Statesman and Society, 1, 26-27. 1988 Bassett, C. 'Mary Seacole: The forgotten founder'. Nursing Standard, 6, 44-45. 1992 Carnegie, M. E. 'Black nurses at the front'. American Journal of Nursing, 84, 1250-1252. 1984 Davis, C. 'Mary Seacole'. [Review of the book Wonderful adventures of Mrs. Seacole in many lands]. New Statesman, 107, 39. 1984 Gordon, J. E. 'Mary Seacole — A forgotten nurse heroine of the Crimea'. Midwife, Health Visitor & Community Nurse, 11, 47-50. 1975. Iveson-Iveson, J. 'The forgotten heroine'. Nursing Mirror, 157, 44-47. 1983 Iveson-Iveson, J. 'A pin to see a peep show'. Nursing Mirror, 158, 36. 1984 King, A.

'Mary Seacole, Part I: A matter of life ' Essence, 4, 32. 1974 Okokon, S. Black Londoners, 1880 — 1990. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1998. Pollitt, N. 'Forgotten heroine'. Times Educational Supplement, n. 3965, 33. 1992 Roberts, A. Mary Seacole. Radio Jamaica Broadcast for U. C. W. I. Kingston. Aug. 2 1951. Seacole, Mary. The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. London: James Blackwood, 1857 (available offsite on Project Gutenberg, here ). Florence Nightingale - The National Archives Florence Nightingale External links On 4 November 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived in Turkey with a group of 38 nurses from England. Britain was at war with Russia (the Crimean War 1854-1856) and the conditions in the hospitals were very bad. Hundreds of soldiers were injured in the fighting.

In those days, hospitals were very basic and the soldiers were not given good food and medicine to help them get better. When Florence Nightingale got to the hospital, she saw that wounded men were sleeping in overcrowded, dirty rooms without any blankets. Wounded soldiers often arrived with diseases like typhus, cholera and dysentery. More men died from these diseases than from their injuries. When she arrived at the hospital, the army doctors who worked there did not want the nurses helping. Soon after they arrived, however, there was a very large battle and the doctors realised they needed the nurses’ help. Florence Nightingale realised that if the doctors were going to allow her nurses to work then they had to do a very good job. Tasks Source 4 5. Now you are going to take part in a role-play. It is late September 1854. Florence Nightingale and Elisabeth Herbert (the wife of Sidney Herbert, the Secretary of War) are interviewing a woman who wants to go to the Crimea as a nurse. First you will have to decide what questions you want to ask the woman. You can ask no more than eight.

Use your observations from the exercise in section 2 to help you choose the ones that will be most effective in deciding whether the woman is suitable. Now get into a group of three. One person should play the part of the woman who wants to go to the Crimea as a nurse. The other two play Florence and Elisabeth and ask the questions. At the end you must decide, do we offer the woman a job as a nurse? Background Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 to a wealthy couple. As she grew up, she decided that she had a calling to help the sick and poor and decided she wanted to become a nurse. When Florence told her parents what she wanted, they were not happy. Being a nurse was not respectable and was not thought to be a proper profession. Therefore they did not want this for their daughter. Eventually, her father gave his permission for her to go to Germany where she gained some nursing experience at the Deaconess Institution Hospital for the poor and sick. When she returned she became the lady superintendent (manager) of a hospital for gentlewomen in Harley Street, London. When war broke out, the government only expected it to last until Christmas. It actually lasted two years.

They were not ready for how many soldiers would be injured, and this was one of the reasons why the hospitals were in such a bad state. A reporter for the Times newspaper sent back several reports about the hospitals, and people in Britain started demanding something was done about them. This was when the Minister for War, Sidney Herbert, stepped in and asked Florence Nightingale to arrange and take charge of nurses to send to the war. Florence returned after the war as a national heroine. She had been shocked by the conditions in the hospital and began to campaign to improve the quality of nursing in military hospitals. Importantly, she gathered a lot of information about food, death rates, and doctors’ training in these hospitals. In October 1856 she met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and in 1857 she gave evidence to a Sanitary Commission. This helped with the setting up of the Army Medical College in Chatham in 1859. In 1859, Florence published a book called ‘Notes on Nursing’ which is still in print today. She also founded the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

Up until her death, Florence encouraged the development in nursing in Britain and abroad. The main reason we remember her is that she did a lot of work educating people about the importance of keeping hospitals clean and free from infections, and this work is carried on today in modern hospitals. Something which is less well known is that she was also very gifted with numbers and reports, and because of this, she became the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society in 1858. Teachers' notes Florence Nightingale is best known for her work at Scutari hospital, Turkey, during the Crimean War and then afterwards for her role in developing nursing as a profession. She is also known as ‘the lady with the lamp’ and this quotation relates to an article published about her in the Times newspaper on Thursday 8 February 1855, which reads: ‘She is a “ministering angel” without any exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her slender form glides quietly along each corridor every poor fellow’s face softens with gratitude at the sight of her.

When all the medical officers have retired for the night, and silence and darkness have settled down upon these miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds.’ The mention of the miles of sick relates to contemporary reports that the wards at Scutari stretched for four miles. It took Florence and her nurses 13 days to reach Scutari. They travelled by ship to Boulogne, then overland to Marseilles where they had a break in the journey. From Marseilles, they took the mail steamer ‘Vectis’ to Scutari. Other women who nursed during the Crimean war were Mary Seacole and Elizabeth (Betsy) Davis. The documents are designed for use in key stage 1 as part of an enquiry into Florence Nightingale and are intended to be read to pupils by their teacher. They can also be designed for use in key stage 2 as part of a study of the Victorians. Glossary You may need to help with some of the language in this document: Derry Wrapper : A wrapper is a type of dressing gown.

Linseywoolsey : A coarse fabric made from linen or cotton with a wool filling Alpaca : A glossy black woollen fabric Stays : Flat strips of steel or plastic used for stiffening corsets. The word was also often used to refer to corsets in general. Sources Illustration – COPY 1/11 Source 1 – ‘One of the wards of the hospital at Scutari’, an illustration published 21 April 1856 by Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co, by kind permission of the Wellcome Library, London Source 2 – WO 33/1 An extract from the ‘Report upon the state of the hospitals of the British Army in the Crimea and Scutari’ Source 4 – WO 43/963 Extract from Rules and Regulations for the Nurses Attached to the Military Hospitals in the East. External links Florence Nightingale (1820 — 1910) Florence Nightingale (1820 — 1910) [ Victorian Web Home —> Victorian Political History —> Victorian Social History —> Crimean War ] Section of the Crimean War memorial . Click on the image for a larger view.

Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 at the Villa La Columbaia in Florence; she was named after the city of her birth. Her father, William Edward Nightingale (1794-1874), was son of William Shore, a Sheffield banker. When Nightingale came of age on 21 February 1815 he inherited the Derbyshire estates at Lea Hurst and Woodend in Derbyshire from, and assumed the surname of Peter Nightingale, his mother's uncle. On 1 June 1818 he married Frances Smith, a strong supporter of the abolition of slavery . They had two daughters, Parthenope and Florence. "Parthe" was given the classical name of Naples where she was born. Florence Nightingale was brought up at Lea Hall; in 1825 the family moved to Lea Hurst which Nightingale had just built. In 1826 he also bought Embley Park, in Hampshire and in1828 he became High Sheriff of the county. The family invariably spent the summer at Lea Hurst and the winter at Embley Park, occasionally visiting London.

Florence Nightingale had a broad education and came to dislike the lack of opportunity for females in her social circle. She began to visit the poor but became very interested in looking after those who were ill. She visited hospitals in London and around the country to investigate possible occupations for women there. However, nursing was seen as employment that needed neither study nor intelligence; nurses were considered to be little less than prostitutes at that time. Nightingale's hospital visits began in 1844 and continued for eleven years. She spent the winter and spring of 1849-50 in Egypt with family friends; on the journey from Paris she met two St. Vincent de Paul sisters who gave her an introduction to their convent at Alexandria. Nightingale saw that the disciplined and well-organised Sisters made better nurses than women in England. Between 31 July to 13 August 1850, Nightingale made her first visit to the Institute of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth. The institute had been founded for the care of the destitute in 1833 and had grown into a training school for women teachers and nurses.

Her visit convinced Nightingale of the possibilities of making nursing a vocation for ladies. In 1851 she spent four months at Kaiserswerth, training as a sick nurse. When she returned home, she undertook more visits to London hospitals; in the autumn of 1852 she inspected hospitals in Edinburgh and Dublin. In 1853 she accepted her first administrative post when she became superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen. Florence Nightingale Receiving the Wounded at Scutari — 1856 — The Mission of Mercy by Jerry Barrett. Click on thumbnail for larger picture. In March 1854 the Crimean War broke out and the reports of the sufferings of the sick and wounded in the English camps created anger in Britain. William Russell, The Times' correspondent, described the terrible neglect of the wounded, and pointed to the differences between the facilities provided for British and French soldiers. He asked: ‘Are there no devoted women among us, able and willing to go forth to minister to the sick and suffering soldiers of the East in the hospitals of Scutari?

Are none of the daughters of England, at this extreme hour of need, ready for such a work of mercy? Must we fall so far below the French in self-sacrifice and devotedness?’ (The Times, 15 and 22 September 1854). Nightingale offered her services to the War Office on 14 October but her friend Sidney Herbert — the Secretary for War — already had written to her, suggesting that she should go out to the Crimea. Herbert said that she would 'have plenary authority over all the nurses and ... the fullest assistance and co-operation from the medical staff'. He also promised 'unlimited power of drawing on the government for whatever you think requisite for the success of your mission'. Nightingale embarked for the Crimea on 21 October with thirty-eight nurses: ten Roman Catholic Sisters, eight Anglican Sisters of Mercy, six nurses from St. John's Institute, and fourteen from various hospitals; Mr. and Mrs. Bracebridge, also went with her. Nightingale refused the offer of service by Mary Seacole . They reached Scutari on 4 November — the eve of the battle of Inkerman .

Nightingale's official title was ‘Superintendent of the Female Nurses in the Hospitals in the East’; but she came to be known generally as ‘The Lady-in-Chief.’ Florence Nightingale [in hospital, advising] by Arthur George Walker, R.A. 1861-1936. Bronze. Part of the Crimean War Memorial located at the junction of Lower Regent Street and Pall Mall, London. Her headquarters were in the barrack hospital at Scutari, a huge, filthy place where infection was rife. Stores had not got beyond Varna or had been lost at sea . Descriptions from Nightingale and her nurses give some idea of the conditions there: There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels, or clothes, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin . . . We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely sour. The butter is most filthy; it is Irish butter in a state of decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food.

Potatoes we are waiting for, until they arrive from France . . . The military and medical authorities at Scutari viewed Nightingale's intervention as a reflection on themselves. Many of her own volunteers were inexperienced, and the behaviour of the orderlies was offensive to the women. However, before the end of 1854, Nightingale and her nurses had brought the Scutari hospital into better order. The relief fund organised by The Times sent out stores; other voluntary associations at home were helpful. In December forty-six more nurses went to the Crimea. Nightingale quickly established a vast kitchen and a laundry; she looked after the soldiers' wives and children, and to provided daily necessities for them. She was on her feet for twenty hours a day and her nurses were also overworked; however, she was the only woman whom she allowed to be in the wards after eight at night, when the other nurses' places were taken by orderlies. The wounded men called her ‘The Lady of the Lamp.’ Longfellow tried to express the feelings for Nightingale in his poem, Santa Filomena . Florence Nightingale [[at hospital door as wounded soldiers arrive] by Arthur George Walker, R.A.

1861-1936. Bronze. Part of the Crimean War Memorial located at the junction of Lower Regent Street and Pall Mall, London. Early in 1855, because of the defects in the sanitation system, there was a great increase in the number of cases of cholera and of typhus fever among Nightingale's patients. Seven of the army doctors and three of the nurses died. Frost-bite and dysentery from exposure in the trenches before Sevastopol made the wards fuller than before. There were over 2000 sick and wounded in the hospital and in February 1855 the death-rate rose to 42%. The War Office ordered the sanitary commissioners at Scutari to carry out sanitary reforms immediately, after which the death-rate declined rapidly until in June it had fallen to 2%. In May 1855 Nightingale visited the hospitals at and near Balaclava along with Mr. Bracebridge and Alexis Soyer . Nightingale fell ill from Crimean fever and she was dangerously ill for twelve days. Early in June she returned to Scutari and resumed her work there.

In addition to her nursing work she tried to provide reading and recreation rooms for the men and their families. In March 1856 she returned to Balaclava and remained there until July when the hospitals were closed. She returned to England privately in August 1856, in a French ship. She entered England unnoticed and went home to Lea Hurst. In September 1856 Nightingale visited Queen Victoria at Balmoral and told the Queen and Prince Albert about everything that 'affects our present military hospital system and the reforms that are needed'. In November 1855 a Nightingale fund had been set up to found a training school for nurses. This was the only recognition of her services of which Nightingale would approve. By 1860, £50,000 had been collected and the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses was established at St. Thomas's Hospital . Nightingale's health and other occupations prevented her from accepting the post of superintendent but she watched the progress of the new institution with practical interest. She was able to use her experiences in the Crimea for the benefit of the nursing profession.

She settled in London and lived the retired life of an invalid, although she spent a great deal of time offering advice and encouragement through her writing and also verbally. In 1857 she issued an exhaustive and confidential report on the workings of the army medical departments in the Crimea and in 1858 she published Notes on Matters affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army. In 1858 a Commission was appointed to inquire into the sanitary condition of the army: it set a high value on her evidence. In 1859 an army medical college was opened at Chatham and the first military hospital was established in Woolwich in 1861. During the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 her advice was sought by the respective governments. Nightingale was involved in establishing the East London Nursing Society (1868), the Workhouse Nursing Association and National Society for providing Trained Nurses for the Poor (1874) and the Queen's Jubilee Nursing Institute (1890). When the Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857 Nightingale offered to leave for India immediately if there was anything she could do.

Her services were not required but she became interested in the sanitary condition of the army and people there. From her work, a Sanitary Department was established in the Indian government. She became familiar with many facets of Indian life and demanded that there should be improvements in health and sanitation there. She did not visit India. She wrote papers on the causes of famine, the need of irrigation and the poverty of the people of India. In 1890 she contributed a paper on village sanitation in India. Her book, Notes on Nursing first appeared in 1860 and was reprinted many times during in her lifetime. She received was the Order of Merit in 1907 and in 1908 she was awarded the Freedom of the City of London. She had already received the German order of the Cross of Merit and the French gold medal of Secours aux Blessés Militaires. On 10 May 1910 she was presented with the badge of honour of the Norwegian Red Cross Society.

Nightingale died in South Street, Park Lane, London, on 13 August 1910 at the age of ninety and was buried on 20 August in the family plot at East Wellow, Hampshire. An offer of burial in Westminster Abbey was refused by her relatives. Memorial services took place in St. Paul's Cathedral and Liverpool Cathedral, among many other places. Related Material

Question: What was the name of the nurse who worked during the Crimean War and became known as 'The Black Florence Nightingale'?
Answer: MARY SEACOLE